heh, thought I'd get in first with this one. Only a day away and I'm excited!

looks like Big Glen is in and Jones is out, so that will make a huge difference. The possible Austraian side is still a bit of a mystery so that gives us a good buildup. Warne claims he bolws better without MacGill in the side, so imo they should leave MacGill out for this reason alone!

Rain is forecast for 3 of the 5 days, so lets hom,e it stays away.

Enjoy.

should be a good match.

Rain withstanding, I think since Jones is out and McGrath is in, Australia have this one sewn up.

last edited by levels at 10:44:40 07/Sep/05

lets hope so, I think the toss will be crucial.

yeah if Ponting loses the toss... time for a new tosser... i mean captain

Personally I think it will be a drawn match with England finally taking the Ashes back. But who knows what will happen, if the Aus batsmen actually get their s*** together, and McGrath leads the way for the bowlers...or Flintoff can dominate with the bat and ball again...will be a good game either way

Warne claims he bolws better without MacGill in the side, so imo they should leave MacGill out for this reason alone!

I really don't agree with this. Why does the team management let warne come out and say things like this? He's not even vice captain, why should he be commenting on the possible makeup of a side beyond "I hope I'm picked"

Hope warney has a shocker and macgill a ripper.

because he's one of the greatest cricketers to have ever walked the earth.

Bradman & Sobers are out on their own, behind them Warney would be up there.

^agreed^

saying that warne should have a shocker is like handing England the Ashes... Warne has been pretty much the only shining Aussie in the series, and McGrath when he doesnt stand on cricket balls. But in the past when both spinners have played it is true that Warne doesnt do too well... but hell i would play them both because they are both great bowlers. Even if Warne doesnt do too well, he is still going to keep one end pinned down.

Why does the team management let warne come out and say things like this?

Check the runs and wickets column for Australia for all your answers.

i dont think i will be feeling well on thurs : )

yeah I agree with ek, I rekon it'll end up in a draw due to rain.

Toss is the most crucial part of this game, that and the batters actually batting!!!

yeah if Ponting loses the toss... time for a new tosser... i mean captain

i rekon so too in parts i guess. ponting is a greeat batsmen fieldsman. but as captain i tink he misses the point the aussies have been evolving into a tactical aggressive cricket side. ponting, i think (although they call him punter) is scared of taking a chance.
i really cant see another candidate for captain though. i think clarke will the next aus captain but that wont be for a few years yet.

i would hate to see the ashes be decided by rain. the first time in years ive actually been a bit nervous about australian test series.

weather is nice and sunny atm... but in this town can change in few secs.

rain is forcast

it rained at the oval today

This series has been the best in recent years, England are doing really well. If the weather happens to interfere I for one will not be happy. What i would love to see is another nail biter... one that goes down to the wire. But of course see the Aussies win.

And yeah dont get me wrong. Ponting has been/still is a good batsman and a great fielder and is a crucial part to the Aussie team, but I have felt that his captaincy has been lacking to an extent in some of the previous tests. Australia has been dealt a real shake up this Ashes, and if we lose i wouldnt be surprised to see some major changes to the make up of the Aussie team.

It's funny, when Australia were winning against new zealand, I had to google long and hard (and erect) to find the name of the australian coach, because that kiwi coach was getting heaps of press.

now everyone knows his name

heh.

because he's one of the greatest cricketers to have ever walked the earth.

Bradman & Sobers are out on their own, behind them Warney would be up there.

Something about a guy called Barnes?

Warne > Barnes

anyone read pontings little speech on http://foxsports.news.com.au in the McGrath article? about how he doesnt want to be blamed? i find it funny. It is true that its is the whole teams fault and not just an individual, but being captain means shouldering responsibility and not trying to get out of it be moving it elsewhere. I think that is a bad leadership quality right there.

last edited by Rusty202 at 10:08:46 08/Sep/05

especially saying that s*** when the series is still live.

in more important news Ricky ponting international cricket for the pc, xbox and ps2 is coming out on the 29th of this month.. so even if it does go pear shaped we can put it right in the game :p

pshhhhh... if we lose the ashes i want to see a national boycott of that game!

ok... ponting lost the toss.... out with punter

I hate to say it already, but 0/61 after 1 hour and rain predicted for the next 3 days. Not the start the Aussies were looking for.

goodbye ashes... it was a nice few decades... we will see you soon i hope

Tait has bowled pump.... exceptionally fast pump, but pump nevertheless. The inswinging yorkers have been good but everything else has been ill-directed. At least McGrath and Lee bowled some good stock on or around off, beating the edge a few times but we really needed a wicket or two by now.

well, this is going badly

finally

Well, now it's important that the Aussies string a couple together to shift the game back to them.

despite the wicket, we will still lose :/

bye bye ashes :(

can someone please find me shane warnes mobile number so i can txt love to him? i mean... for the good of cricket... and not that type of love... bow-chicka-bow-wow

lol warnes 3rd... i rest my case

Game on ladies and gentlemen.

thank god for warney is all I can say ladies and gentlemen...

oh gee i'm glad macgill isn't there

nooooooo baggygreen you pos start working :(

in warne we trust

warne for president

score updates please :(

4/147

warne for pres

but yes imagine of they went for a warne/macgill combo!!!

also use this link for scorecard

http://aus.cricinfo.com/db/NEW/LIVE/frames/AUS_ENG_T5_08-12SEP2005.html

omg i love you heardy :D

s'funny. Just woke up, put on the net radio cast and it's the same old story. England on the way to 300 with the loss of 5 wickets.

7-319
warney is god

flintoff not far behind, dmanit

If the Aussies can finish off the tail (e.g. 3/30-50) then we're in a relatively good possition given how good the deck looked early..... would have been a good toss to win.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/09/08/england.cricket.reut/index.html

Never mind the article, scroll halfway down and click on the "WATCH" video. Its a cricket news segement probably made for air on american cnn, thought it was pretty amusing. I feel sorry for people who dont know the rules and lingo :P

20mins ago it was pissing down, lighting and s***. easing up now.

20mins ago as in 4pm friday here.

last edited by möoby at 01:20:58 10/Sep/05

aussies took bad light 0/112

ohnos
rain!

good start for the aussies
get to 500 now tomorrow and we are in with a chance!

500+ would be good because I doubt we want to be chasing too many in the second dig. Of course the rain isn't helping our cause in terms of time.

500+ would be good because I doubt we want to be chasing too many in the second dig

really? I thought the Aussies loved colossal run chases.

well, the fact that haydos and langer took the light with over an hour of play left might be a crucial decision in the whole scheme of things... we NEED to win in order to keep the ashes.

all in all was a pretty good second days play :)

Probably a good decision, its only day 2 and I wouldn't send out a couple of set in batsmen with 1hr of play left and risk losing them, I'd take the extra play time the next morning and let them get set again and really cut loose.

Longer sessions favour the batting side.

I've heard a few people whinging that Hayden and Langer are pussies for taking the light, I bet they wouldn't be saying the same thing if they decided to play on and we lost 1 or 2 quick wickets. "Oh they should've taken the light" they would say...

Nice start from both the openers, they've done their job well..but NOW is the time for Hayden to show why he is in the team, 100-150-200 ..here's hopin'

yeah i would like to see Australia post a good total. I mean we are fairly safe if it goes to the 5th day and we are chasing 200ish... because the only "spinner" they have would be Giles, but i prefer to call him a slow straight bowler

That's a good knock by Langer.
105 from him is what the aussies needed.
Hopefully Hayden gets a tonne now

Worst thing that could have happened.... langer out... ponting in, it'll take time for him to get his eye in a problem which is compounded by a rain delay.. We need our batters to get their eye in quickly and they need to be hitting stuff quick.. Get the 370 or whatever and put a bit more on, we're kinda against the clock atm

imho we need to get the total, f*** around for a bit, if we get out no worries bowl them out cheaply and get back in as quickly as possible :p we need a day to attack whatever they leave us to get, the problem comes if they decide to sit in and not let us get a go at the total, i have no doubt that could be a possiblity for them if they're only put in on 4th day.... Remembering they only need a draw to take the tiny urn away from us

one word... rain

geez, you are soo perceptive of what is going on.
As if there is any other possibility at this stage.

If pointer gets them to near 280-300, and gets out, they might throw gilly in to smack em round (assuming he fires this time)

Play has resumed.

If there's no rain tonight should be worth watching because the Aussies are going to need to score at a fair rate.

So glad that Hayden got his 100, they're 2/277 atm, they probably need to be about 150-200 in front and declare before the last session of play tonight and then have that hour or two to try and pick up a couple of wickets, then a full day to finish them off.

im starting to think that we have lost the ashes but i was thinking along the same lines as ek

If we can get maybe 100 in front at tea, and declare, put them in and get them out for like 150 or something, then we are in with a real chance ....

Props to Haydos! I'm hoping we start cranking up the run rate a bit now; maybe Haydos will start getting some of his big hit confidence back and start smashing some balls around. Then Warne can just SMASH THEM

I agree trog, one would think maybe a Gilchrist &/or Warne to come in next after either Hayden or Martyn departs. There is rain forcast for today as well so they need to make sure they get the runs on the board quickly so they have plenty of time to get 10 wickets.

Hayden is a f***ing pussy.

Langer FTW, took him 100 less minutes to get his 100 -_-

if hayden had a slog and got out for 20 you'd call him a fag for that too. armchair sportsmanship to the extreme here.

i doubt there's anywhere near enough time for them to win, especially if it rains

flintoff for man of the series

either him of warney pave

tho I rekon it'll go to freddie, personally I think warney deserves it more, i.e. he's been the main bowler for Aus with mc garth out for a couple of tests, score a 90 odd and generally been a mad cainer

flintoff has destroyed us this morning, this game will end in a draw, the poms won't bat with this light

harmison is such a cool name

heh we're so dooomed :(

what a f***up, went from 2/272 to 9/360 odd

useless, we don't deserve the ashes, saying that - England have gotta bat yet, we've got warnie and mc garth to bowl 2 of the all time greats over 1100 wickets between them

fkn umpires, bringing em off for bad light when we were gonna play 2 spinners

as if anyones gonna get hurt with 2 spinners bowling

umpire bowden has got money on the game for sure

australia were offered bad light on the end of the second day and took it, they were offered it part way through yesterday and didnt take it, so the same offer was put out to the english.

in ways facing spin bowling in bad light is just as risky as facing pace bowling. a misjudge and youre out, and thats the concern. besides, australias collapse was shocking. they shouldve been able to bat through to the end of play and put england in on the morning of the 5th day, giving them a chance to bowl them out.

flintoff was marvellous, good one for hados, and poor form on some of those shots.

oh and for the record, omgosh australia had three decisions go their way during the batting :o oh noes bias!

no but really, this test has been pretty consistent, bowden and rudi rock

It will be unfortunate and to the detriment to the game if this test and therefore the ashes is decided not by the better team, but by conditions/light.
This is THE major failing in cricket.
What would the english think if they won the ashes with the 5 test being rained out for 5 days, not a ball being bowled?? You would get the usual idiot that simply didn't care as long as England won(as it would be with the aussies if the roles were reveresed) but anyone who truly loves the game wants to see a GAME!!
Though it pains me to say this, i think it is good that Australia has faced a defeat, not only for the game but also for Australian cricket. This type of incident will help progress the aussie team on, bleed new blood into the ranks. No-one wants to see a repeat of the 80's when the once dominent Australians lost Chappell, Lillie and Marsh all in one hit and nose dived for so long. As for world cricket, even we admitted that seeing the aussie team destroy all comers was getting rather "dull"
Hopefully we will learn from this (probable) loss and use it as a catalyst to go forward.

I think most of the english fans dont care aslong as their team wins, as could be seen by them cheering when the teams were taken off for bad light. One of the commentators said it best when he mentioned that they paid 60 pounds in the hope of not seeing a game played.

Great, now we have to put up with a couple of years worth of England thinking they're the greatest cricketing nation in the world :(

(Until we slaughter them in Australia come next Ashes)

It really baffles me why Langer & Hayden went off because of the light. They must have talked about it with Ponting so is this just another bad decision by him? If so he deserves the boot imho...

its one of the worst decisions ive ever seen

i can understand the poms doing it, but why would we?

I can't believe we've dropped catches this morning :/

also mc garth on hat tricks - all happening :D

The first three balls of Lee's last over before lunch (to Pieterson) was some of the most dangerous bowling I have ever seen. Pieterson had no idea what was happening and it's sent the Aussies into the sheds on a big high.

kill pieterson

also

omfg we are in this

It's all over


Now for the World XI...

done by kp
hes not even a pom :(

warney dropped him early on :(

last edited by Spook at 06:25:08 13/Sep/05

WHERE DO WE COME FROM?

well thats it

there isnt.... anymore

So dissapointing :(

twas an awesome game, bit dissapointed in vaughn that eh didnt declare when australia wouldve needed 6ish runs an over to win, but then again those were massive stakes and australia wouldve done the same. guarantee the ashes.

omg kp, there was a line in the news today - combined zen like calm, with brutal strength. that summed it up for me, he played insanely well after being dropped twice to get to that level.

i know its easy to criticise from the armchair, but i thought pontings field placements were a bit meh, specially what boycott was saying when collingwood was jumping around and no bat pad was in position, leg gully was too deep, etc etc.

it didnt seem confident enough, and i guess im still of the opinion that he is the worst captain since before border, and this team is the worst since border brought together a reasonable team that started the rise to glory.

Everytime you post about cricket these days Tung, you sound like noting more than a troll.
You comment about this being the worst team since border day is bulls***. This current Australian team is still very good as they have shown through the ashes test. All it takes is for not all the parts to mesh (as they have in the past) and to come up against a side that is firing and this is what you get.
As was said earlier on in the campaign :
"This side has proven it has the skills, and you don't lose them overnight"
If they go on to lose every game in the next 2 year, then perhaps your little speaches may have merit, but do you also think that is likely??

my opinion is based on the fact that this australian team hasnt been troubled before by bowling to test the batsman. every now and then a team will come along and be able to target the weaknesses of the middle order of au strlaia, but only now has a team targeted every batsman well enough to show their fragile nature.

im not saying australia is bad, im saying the border team, the taylor team, the waugh team s*** all over this one. its still the best in the world, but i dont think it quite matches up.

hados has done well to keep his place in the side, langer is the only oen thats reasonably consistent, ponting has had starts but only 1 finish (and has a huge tendancy to fall that way), marto was unlucky, but also didnt seem that threatening, gilchrist was meh, katich ground it out, clarke was a bit shaky (fair enough considering hes pretty new) and i really wanted to see him do well.

the onyl campaigner that was consistent was warne. mcgrath looked like he was a bit worn out, and brett lee bowled some awesome deliveries, but also got hit for 7 runs an over off his first 8 overs. tait could do well but unless mcgrath picks up some good fitness and stamina, whats the point with 2 short term fiery bowlers if you cant peg the other end down?

anyway, i dont mean to troll, it just seems to me that the selectors have some work to do. either work towards getting the older players back playing consistently again, or look at the australian A team and maybe promote a few guys and see how they go.

the other thing i guess is that whenver ive watched australia play previous to this, theres a sense of dread knowing that each of the batsman coming in has the huge threat of scoring lots of runs, or that each of the bowlers bowling has a huge threat of takign a wicket each ball.

this series i didnt see that (apart from the first test), i dontk now if that was just the confidence of the english in most of their innings or if it actually was them not looking as dangerous. warne bowling second innings of the last test was scary though, that was the warne of old where you cringe with every delivery, hoping its not going to be a wicket :(

the onyl campaigner that was consistent was warne.

Your bias shines through in that comment. Warne was a bit more than 'consistent'.

consistent means that he played well through the series. thast what i meant. how is that biased when you just agreed with me.

Because he was sensational!

or look at the australian A team

I looked at there scorecard versus Pakistan A, and none of them seem worthy of a call up at the moment (so far anyway :P)

Because he was sensational!

Yeah, consistently sensational. noob.

Yeah, consistently sensational. noob.

Your 'consistently' is redundant, because sensational, among other things, means consistent. noob.

no

I think Australia intentionally lost as a way to give a massive finger to channel 9 for dumping the ashes.

yes, that's it typo....

was a good series, would have been better if we had won.

Makes the next one in .au even better :D

p.s warnie was f***ing awesome, 40 of 94 wickets that australia took and 249 runs. I agree with freddie as man on series, but really, warnie could have quiet easily have taken that award imo

Just want to say (been away in Cairns for a week on holidays) that Warne >>>>>>> Flintoff for man of the series.

Also whilst Australia did SUCK for the most part, a couple of umpiring decisions did decide this series, I mean 2-1 England, what if they hand't f'd up that decision with Australia needing 1 more run for a tie and 2 for a win, get that right, get 2 runs, and Australia wins this series 2-1, Highlights how close the series was and how poor umpiring played a HUGE part in deciding the result. Not to mention poor planning resulting in a series WAY to late in the English summer, my god the light conditions during early afternoon were abismal.

Did you honestly look at the kaspa decision and immediately know his hand left the bat milliseconds before the ball hit the glove?

Also both teams had to contend with those light conditions.

And the man of the series seems to go along the same way as the man of the match: not the player with the highest score or technically best bowling figures, but the player who changed the series the most. See the final test for pieterson's man of the match effort (though that was probably the highest by a nose) and how it turned the match; Flintoff turned the series more than Warne.